Draft gear and cushioning pad therefor



Feb. 12, 1957 v H, SPENCE El'AL 2,781,135

DRAFT GEAR AND CUSHIONING PAD THEREFOR Filed Nov. 15, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS ,HUBERT L.- SPENCE' BY DONALD WILL/SON ATTORNEY Feb. 12, 1957 SPENCE EI'AL DRAFT GEAR AND CUSHIONING PAD THEREFOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 13, 1952 I I l I I I I I I I I I I i E Y M N 5 mi m T mL A United States Patent O F DRAFT GEAR AND CUSHIONING PAD THEREFOR Hubert L. Spence, East Cleveland, and Donald Willison, Maple Heights, Ohio, assignors to National Malleable and Steel Castings Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application November 13, 1952, Serial No. 320,242

14 Claims. (Cl. 213-40) This invention relates to cushioning mechanism for use in draft rigging of railway vehicles, and more particularly, to draft gears of the type embodying grouped cushioning pads disposed between paired followers.

In draft gears of this type, it is desirable to prevent misalignment between the grouped cushioning pads and the adjacent followers because such misalignment tends to result in damaging wear on the pads, and particularly on the end pads, by direct abrading engagement thereof with the center sills of the car independently of the follower castings. In the case of draft gears in which the cushioning pads thereof are of a composite form comprising rubber and a metal plate insert, this damaging wear occurs on edge portions of the metal insert which project beyond the peripheral edges of the rubber. When proper alignment is maintained, greatly increased pad life is obtained, particularly for the end pads. The group of pads then wear as a unit with the followers.

An object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide novel aligning means effective between the ends of a group of cushioning pads of a draft gear and the adjacent followers.

Another object is to provide novel alignment means of the character mentioned, in which the end pads and the followers have cooperating key and recess alignment elements thereon.

A further object is to provide novel draft gear align ment means for the purpose indicated above, in which the aligning elements of the end pads are bendable tabs located outside the margin of the rubber and having an aligning position of overlapping engagement with portions of the associated followers.

Still another object is to provide cushioning pad alignment means of the character referred to above, in which the tabs of the end pads have an initial position preventing assembly of the draft gear into the draft gear pocket in a railway vehicle so as to insure the bending of the tabs into aligning cooperation with the followers by the assembly workmen.

Additionally, this invention provides novel cushioning pad alignment means of the character above indicated in which the shape and final position of the aligning tabs are such as to prevent interference with draft gear assembling tools, and also such as to minimize wear on, and prevent unintentional opening of, the tabs by direct contact with the sills.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent in the following detailed description and in the accompanying sheets of drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view, partly in section, showing a draft gear of the grouped cushioning pad type and embodying the aligning means of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the draft gear of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on a larger scale and showing the aligning tabs in their engaged position in the follower recesses;

2,781,135 Patented Feb. 12, 1957 Fig. 4 is an end elevation of an end cushioning pad having aligning tabs thereon;

Fig. 5 is a plan or face view of the cushioning pad of Fig. 4 and showing the same prior to the bending of the tabs;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of such cushioning pad;

Fig. 7 is a front elevation of one of the followers of the draft gear shown in Fig. 1 showing the follower in detached relation and engaged by the aligning tabs of the end cushioning pad associated therewith;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side elevation showing use of a draft gear assembly wedge as permitted without interference by the aligning tabs; and

Fig. 9 is a partial plan View of an end cushioning pad provided with a modified form of aligning means.

Proceeding now with a more detailed description of the present invention, Figs. 1 and 2 show conventional railway car sill construction in which laterally spaced center sills 1--1 define therebetween, a draft gear pocket 2 having rear buffing lugs or abutments 33 and front draft lugs 44. A draft gear yoke 5 of a conventional type extends longitudinally in the draft gear pocket 2 and is here shown as being a standard vertical plane horizontal key yoke. A conventional coupler has the rear end of its shank 6 connected with the forward end portion of the yoke 5 by means of a conventional horizontal key (not shown). A draft gear 7, comprising main and compensating cushioning units 8 and 9, and followers 10, 11 and 12, is assembled in the yoke 5 and located in the draft gear pocket 2.

The main cushioning unit 8 comprises a group or longitudinally extending series of transversely disposed generally rectangular cushioning pads 13 disposed between the followers 10 and 11 and including end pads 14 and 15 which are in engagement with these followers. The compensating cushioning unit 9, likewise, comprises a group or longitudinally extending series of the transverse cushioning pads 13 disposed between the followers 11 and 12 and including end pads 16 and 17 in engagement with the followers 11 and 12.

The yoke 5 comprises a pair of vertically spaced yoke arms 18 and 19 defining a longitudinally extending yoke opening 20 and connected at their rear ends by a bridging portion 21 having a pulling surface 22 thereon internally of the yoke opening. At the forward end of the yoke opening 29, the yoke 5 is provided with a pair of laterally spaced vertically extending shoulders 23-23 having rearwardly facing abutment surfaces 23-23 thereon.

The follower it), which is also referred to herein as the rear follower, comprises a transverse generally rectangular base portion 19 and pairs of tapered lug- 2424 on the top and bottom sides thereof. The follower 10 is provided on the rear side thereof with laterally spaced vertical faces 25-25 for engagement with the rear stop lugs 3 and between the faces 25, is provided with a yokeengaging surface 26 which is engaged by the internal pulling surface 22 of the yoke 5. The rear follower 10 is rovided, on the front side thereof, with a substantially flat abutment surface 27 for engagement with the rear end pad 14 of the main cushioning unit 8.

The intermediate follower 11, which is also referred to herein as the cushioning follower, comprises a generally rectangular transverse base portion 23 and integral loop portions 2929 connected with such base and extending forwardly therefrom on opposite sides of the yoke arms 13 and 19 of the yoke 5. The base 28 is provided on the rear side thereof with a substantially fiat surface 31 which is engaged by the front end pad 15 of the main cushioning unit 3 and is provided on the front side thereof with a similar substantially fiat surface 32 which is engaged by the rear end pad 16 of the compensating cushioning unit 9.

Each of the loop portions 29 of the cushioning fol-7' lower 11, comprises a pair of vertically spaced longitudinally extending upper and lower arms 29 andZ? which have their rear ends integrally connected with the base 28 and their front ends integrally connected with vertical struts 33. The struts 33 have vertically extending flat. abutment surfaces 34 on the front thereof which engage the front draft lugs 4 of the draft gear pocket 2.

herein as the compensating follower, comprises a transverse generally rectangular base portion 37 and a transverse plate portion 33 integrally connected therewith and forming a forwardly facing abutment surface 39 which engages the rear end face 6 of the coupler shank 6. The compensating follower i2 is provided 'on the rear side thereof with a substantially fiat surface which is engaged by 'the front end pad 17 of the compensating cushioning unit 9. The compensating follower l2 is also provided, outwardly of the vertical side edges of the plate portion 38, with groups of vertically spaced abutment lugs 42 for seating engagement with the abutment surfaces 23" of the yoke during assembly of the gear in the yoke. V i

The yoke 5 and the draft gear 7 constitute a yoke and draft gear assembly .1 which is 'operably supported in the draft gear pocket 2 by a support plate 43 extending transversely beneath the sills 1 and attached to the latter as by the rivets 44. When this yoke and draft gear assembly 41 is applied to a car, as shown in'l igsl and 2, the cushioning units 8 and 9 are under a predetermined initial compression in the yoke and in the draft gear pocket 2. When the assembly 41 has been installed in the draft gear pocket 2, the initial or assembly compression of the main cushioning unit 8 causes the thrust faces of the ear follower it to be held tightly against the rear stop lugs 3 and the front abutment surfaces 34 of the cushioning follov er 11 to be held tightly against the front draft lugs 4. The initial or assembly compression of the compensating cushioning unit 9 holds the front abutment surface 3-9 of the compensating follower 12 in tight engagement with the rear face o of the coupler shank 6 and also holds pulling surface 22 of the yoke in tight engagement with surface 2-5 of the "ear follower.

The cushioning pads 33 of the main cushioning unit 8 and of the compensating unit 9 extend transversely of the draft gear pocket 2 and erect a generally rectangular shape. The pads jars of a composite construction comprising a steel plate insert as and rubber cushions 47 bonded to opposite sides thereof. The sur face of each rubber cushion, in its free or unstressed condition, is preferably of a corrugated or hill and valley shape. The cushioning pads 13 are also provided with an aligning means by which these pads are maintained substantially in a longitudinally aligned relation to each other. The aligning means comprises the projection-and-recess engagement of dowel '49 and recess 50 formed in each rubber cushion 47 fitting in complementary recesses and dowels of the cushions of the adjacent pads. The cushioning pads shown herein have been described and claimed in applicants copending application Serial No. 138,614, filed January 14, 1950 now Patent No. 2,686,667, issued August 17, 1954.

As has been indicated in a general way above, the present invention is concerned primarily with the alignof the ends of the compensating cushioning unit 9 with the adjacent paired followers 11 and 12. The novel aligning means, by which the desired alignment of the cushioning units 8 and 9 with their associated followers is obtained, is here shown applied to the end pads 14 and 15 of the main cushioning unit 8 and to the end pads 16 and 17 of the compensating cushioning unit 9.

As seen in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, the end pads 14, l5, l6 and 17, each comprise a generally rectangular substan tially flat steel plate insert 51 having a rubber cushion 27 bonded to one side only thereof. The opposite side of the insert plate is left uncovered as a plain flat surface,

alignment therewith. The insert 51 is of such size and ment of the ends of the main cushioning unit 8 with the shape that edge portions thereof project beyond the marginal edge 54 of the rubber cushion 47 around substantially the full perimeter of the latter.

As sh we in the drawings, the insert 51 of the end pads l4, 315, 16 and 17, is provided with tabs or key elements located substantially at the corners of the insert and lying outside of the marginal edge 54 of the rubber cushion :7. The tabs 55 constitute one set of the cooperating aligning or keying elements by which the end pads are maintained in the desired aligned relation with respect to their associated followers. The aligning tabs 55 have an initial position and hat condition lying sub-.

stantially in the plane of the insert 51, as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6.

When the cushioning units 8 and 9 and the associated followers 3%, 11 and 12 have been assembled in the yoke d to constitute the yoke and draft gear assembly ii, the aligning tabs 55 of the end pads 14, 15, 16 and 17 occupy a bent position in which these tabs extend longitudinally of the draft gear 7 and project from these end pads in an angular relation thereto, so as to extend in overlapping relation to lowers it 11 and 12.

Thus, as showns in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the'tabs 55 of the end pad 14 of the main cushioning unit is, extend from the insert Sl of this pad in angular relation to the plane thereof and rearwardly toward the stop lugs 3 into overlapping relation with the sides of the base w of the rear follower lltl. Similarly, the tabs 55 of the front end pad 15 of the main cushioning unit 3, extend forwardly toward the draft lugs 4 and into overlapping relation to the sides of the base 28 of the cushioning follower l1.

Likewise, the tabs 55 of the rear end pad 15 of the coinpensating cushioning unit 9, extend longitudinally toward the stop lugs 3 and in overlapping relation to the sides of the base 28 of the cushioning follower if. The aligning tabs 55 of the front end pad 17 of the compensating cushioning unit 9, extend longitudinally toward the draft lugs 4 and in overlapping"relation'to the sides of the base 37 of the compensating follower 12.

' Because of this overlapping engagement of the tabs 55' of these end pads with the bases of the associated followers, the ends pads, and. hence the intermediate pads 13 of the cushioning units 8 and 9, will be held from relative shifting transversely of the followers and will be continuously maintained in an aligned relation with the followers. 7 of the cushioning units 8 and 9, and particularlyrthe end pads thereof, will not be subject to abrading wear against the sills lindependently of the follower castings.

In establishing the aligning cooperation between the ends of the. cushioning units 8 and 9 and their associated followers 10, 11 and 12, the followers are preferably 1 provided with recesses 57 in the sides of the bases thereof in which the tabs 55 engage when the latter have been deflected to their bent. or overlapping position, as shown in Fig. 3. The recesses 57 preferably have inwardly the bases of the associated fol- By reason of this aligned condition, the ends sloping surfaces 57 against which the tabs-55 have a flat engagement when in their fully bent position. The sloping surfaces 57 permit the tabs 55 to be bent beyond a 90 angle when they are being deflected into their keying positions in the recesses 57, and hence, any springback occurring in the tabs will still leave them in a location wholly within the recesses.

The recesses 57 are of a depth such that the bent tabs will lie inwardly of the side edges of insert 51 and of surfaces 53 of the followers and will, therefore, not be exposed to abrading contact with the sills 1. By reason of this recessed location for the bent tabs 55, these tabs will not only be protected from abrading wear on the sills 1, but will be prevented from engaging or becoming lodged behind any irregularity existing on the adjacent car structure and which might cause opening or loosening of these tabs from their keyed or aligning engagement with the followers. 7

In producing the yoke and draft gear assembly 41, the cushioning units 8 and 9 and the associated followers it 11 and 12 are assembled into the yoke opening 20 by appropriate steps, including the use of a suitable press or jack by which the cushioning units 8 and 9 are subjected to the aforementioned initial compression. After the cushioning units and followers have been introduced into the yoke opening 243, the aligning tabs 55 of the end pads 14, 15, 16 and 17 are bent into the above-described overlapping aligning cooperation with the followers, after which the assembly 41 is introduced into the draft gear pocket 2 and the transverse supporting plate 43 is attached to the sills 1.

As pointed out above, the aligning tabs 55 have an initial position lying in the plane of the metal plate insert 51. if these tabs are not deflected to their bent position during the assembly of the draft gear 7 into the yoke 5, these tabs will constitute obstructing projections of a length to engage the undersides of sills 1 and prevent movement of the assembly 41 into its operative position in the draft gear pocket 2. This interference between the unbent tabs 55 and the sills 1, will inform the assembling workmen that the bending of the tabs to their effective aligning position in overlapping relation to the followers, has been neglected and must be accomplished before the yoke and draft gear assembly 41 can be introduced into the draft gear pocket 2. Thus, the aligning tabs 55, in their initial or unbent condition, constitute a safety feature or an indicating means which will require or insure the proper bending of the tabs into the aligning position.

The mounting of the yoke and draft gear assembly 41 in the draft gear pocket 2 is accomplished by an assembly operation involving a series of related steps which need not be here described in further detail, inasmuch as this procedure is fully explained in applicants copending application Serial No. 182,750, filed September 1, 1950.

Whenever removal of the yoke and draft gear assembly 41 from the draft gear pocket 2 becomes necessary or desirable, disassembling steps suitable for this purpose are carried out, such as the procedure outlined in detail in said copending patent application, and including the steps of introducing wedging shims or tools 59 from the underside of the mechanism into the spaces 60 between the base 37 of the compensating follower 12 and the struts 33 of the cushioning follower 11, as shown in Fig. 8. The insertion of the wedging shims 59 into these spaces further compresses the compensating cushioning unit 9 to thereby disengage the front abutment surface 39 of the compensating follower 12 from the rear face 6 of the coupler shank 6. The horizontal draft gear key can then be extracted and the coupler shank 6 withdrawn from the front end of the yoke 5. The support plate 43 i then removed, after which the yoke and draft gear assembly 41 can be moved out of the draft gear pocket 2 by being displaced downwardly from between the lugs 3 and 4.

To avoid interference between the aligning tabs 55 and the wedging shims 59, these tabs are preferably provided with a bevel or oblique edge 61 at the free ends thereof, such that when the tabs are in their bent position, this bevel will extend in a direction to accommodate without interference the entry of the wedging shim 59 as shown in Fig. 8. By reason of the bevel 61, the extreme ends of the bent tabs will terminate short of the tapered edge surfaces 37 a of the base 37 of the compensating follower 12 and there will, therefore, be no projecting corners of these tabs to be engaged by the wedging shims59.

In Fig. 9 of the drawings, a modified form of aligning tab 62 is shown which is intended for the same purpose and functions in substantially the same manner as the aligning tabs 55. The modified tab 62, however, has a substantially straight inner edge 62 which intersects the straight edge 63 of the metal insert 64 at an angle of substantially therebetween. A slot 65 extends into the insert 64 in line with, or as a continuation of, the edge 62 and beyond the side edge 63. Because of the rightangular relation between the sides 62 and 63, the tab 62 can be readily formed during a stamping operation used in producing the insert 64, without excessive wear or maintenance service on the dies employed in producing the insert and, moreover, the slot 65 will facilitate the bending of the tab 62 into its aligning cooperation with the associated follower of the draft gear.

From the accompanying drawings and'the foregoing detailed description, it will now be readily understood that this invention provides an improved draft gear of the type embodying grouped cushioning pads, as well as a novel form of cushioning pad and aligning means.

Although the improved draft gear and the cushioning pad and aligning means therefor of this invention have been illustrated and described herein to a somewhat detailed extent, it will be understood, of course, that the invention is not to be regarded as being limited correspondingly in scope, but includes all changes and modifications coming within the terms of the claims hereof.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. in a draft gear of the type comprising spaced followers and a group of cushioning pads therebetween, cooperating aligning elements effective between the ends of said group and said followers for maintaining a substantially aligned relation therebetween, said aligning element comprising recesses in the lateral edges of said followers and tabs projecting from the ends of said group and engaging in said recesses, to embrace the sides of said followers and prevent transverse shifting of each end pad relative to its associated follower.

2. In a draft gear of the type comprising spaced substantially rectangular followers and a series of substantially rectangular cushioning pads therebetween, paired cooperating aligning elements effective between the end pads of said series and said followers for maintaining a substantially aligned relation therebetween, said aligning elements comprising recesses in the lateral edges of said followers adjacent the corners thereof and tabs on said end pads adjacent the corners thereof and engaging in said recesses, the depth of said recesses being such that said tabs are disposed inwardly of the lateral edges of the followers.

3. in a draft gear having longitudinally spaced followers and a longitudinally extending group of cushioning pads disposed between said followers with the end pads of said group engaging said followers, a first aligning means effective between the pairs of adjacent pads for maintaining said pads in a substantially aligned relation, and a second aligning means effective between said end pads and said followers and comprising recesses in the lateral edges of said followers and bendable projections carried by said end pads and engaging in said recesses, said projections being disposed inwardly of the lateral edges of said followers, said projections prior to being bent so as to engage in said recesses extending beyond the lateral edges of the followers.

4. he draft gear, a'pair of spaced followers havm longitudinally extending recesses in the lateral edges thereof, cushioning pads disposed between said followers and each comprising a metal plate and cushioning material carried thereby, said cushioning pads including end pads presented toward said followers, and tabs on the metal.

each comprising a metal plate and cushioning material carried thereby, said cushioning pads including end pads engaging said followers, and tabs on the metal plates of said end pads at points outside the marginal edges of said cushioning material and engaging in said recesses, for securing each 'of said end pads against transverse shifting thereof relative to the opposing one of said followers.

.6. In a draft gear of the type comprising spaced relatively movable followers, a series of cushioning pads 'dis posed between said followers and including end pads engaging said followers,vand aligning means efiective between said end padsand said followers and comprising tabs projecting from said" end pads on opposite sides thereof and engaging 'said followers, said tabs being bendable to their follower engaging position for preventing displacement of each of said pads transversely of the associated one of said followers.

7. In a draft gear, a follower, a cushioning pad comprising a metal plate, a rubber cushion secured to a side of said plate, and keying tabs for aligning said pad with respect tosaid follower, said tabs being disposed in the plane of said plate and projecting therefrom at points outside the margin of said cushion, at least one edge of a each of said tabs commencing inwardly of the adjacent edge of said plate, said pads being bendable to a followerengaging angular position, relative to said plate, wherein the tabs are disposed inwardly of the lateral edges of the plate.

8. In combination, a draft gear follower and a cushioning pad comprising a substantially flat metal plate, a rubber cushion secured to a side of said plate, and tabs projecting from said plate and adapted for aligning engageent with said follower, said tabs having an effective aligning position in which they project from said pad in oblique relationship to the plane of said plate, said tabs having an initial position lying substantially in said plane and being bendable to said effective position.

9. In a draft gear, a draft gear follower, a cushioning pad comprising a substantially rectangular fiat metal plate, a rubber cushion carried by said plate, and tabs projecting from certain edges of said plate in angular relation to the plane of said plate and being engageable in aligning relationship with said follower, said tabs having oblique outer ends. 7

' 10. In a railway draft rigging, a yoke having a yoke opening, a pair of followers in said yoke opening, a series of cushioning pads in said yoke'opening and disposed between said followers and including end pads engaging said followers, said followers having portions engaged by said end pads, and aligning tabs projecting from said end pads and extending into recesses in the sides of said followers, said tabs being disposed inwardly of the side edges of the followers.

11. In a railway draft rigging, a yoke having a yoke opening, a pair of followers in said yoke opening, a series of cushioning pads in said yoke opening and disposed between said followers and including end pads engaging 'said followers, said followers having portions engaged by said end pads and provided with recesses in the'lateral edges thereof, and aligning tabs projecting from said end pads in a direction lengthwise of said series, said tabs extending into overlapping relation with said follower portions and having keying engagement in said recesses,

said tabs being disposed inwardly of the side edges of r the followers.

12. Mechanism as defined in claim 11 in which said tabs are bendable to said keying engagement in said recesses and in which said recesses have sloping surfaces permitting the bending of said tabs thereinto'to a position of angularity in excess of 90. 7

' 13. A follower for a draft gear having a fiat. surface for engagement with a cushioning element and recesses in the lateral sides thereof for reception of aligning means carried by said element, the bottom surfaces of said recesses being sloped in a direction inwardly of the follower.

14. A draft gear adapted for assembly with a draft gear yoke and between the sills of a draft gear pocket,.said gear comprising a pair of spacedfollowers, a group of cushioning pads betweenisaid followers and including end pads engaging said followers, said pads each comprising a metal plate and cushioning material connected thereto, and aligning means effective between said end pads and said followers, said means comprising tabs projecting from said end pads in angular relation to the planes of the metal plates thereof and engaging said followers, said tabs being bendable to their follower-engaging positions from initial positions lying substantially in said planes and in which initial positions said tabs are engageable' with said sills and prevent assembly of the draft gear in said pocket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain July 7, 1932 

